The son of acclaimed fantasy author JRR Tolkien, who wrote The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, has died aged 95.
Christopher Tolkien was responsible for publishing much of his late father's work and undertook significant editing on those works.
The Tolkien Society announced his death this morning, sending its "deepest condolences to the Tolkien Family".
Tolkien Society Chair Shaun Gunnar said "all of us in the Tolkien Society will share in the sadness at the news of Christopher Tolkien’s death, and we send our condolences to Baillie, Simon, Adam, Rachel and the whole Tolkien family at this difficult time.
"Christopher’s commitment to his father’s works have seen dozens of publications released, and his own work as an academic in Oxford demonstrates his ability and skill as a scholar.
"Millions of people around the world will be forever grateful to Christopher for bringing us The Silmarillion, The Children of Húrin, The History of Middle-earth series and many others.
"We have lost a titan and he will be sorely missed."
Amazon is currently in the process of filming a Lord of the Rings television spinoff series in New Zealand, with the global mega-company reportedly paying as much as US$250 million to the Tolkien Estate for the rights to do so.
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